Spring-wheel.



H. KRAUSE.

srmme WHEEL. APPLICATION FILED JAN- 20. 1917.,

Patented Max: 26, 1918.

2- SHEETS-SHEET 2. -43Q9.

lliH/E/JTOR fiOWZZIS ll TTOIMIEYS nor/Limos KRAUsn, or nntnnvnn; NORTHCAROLINA.

SPRING WHEEL.

Specificationioflettets lat'ent'i Pattentedllllar. 2b, 191%;

Applicationlfiled January20, 1917. Serial No. 143L431.

To; allztviiomitrmay concern Be it known that IQROMANUS Knnnsnn citizen;on the United States, and a resident oi Belhaven, inthe county, ofBeaufort and.

5., State .offNorth. Carolina, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements: in SpringeWheels; of which. the; following is aspecification. v 7

My invention. llSn an. improvement; in

10 spring wheel's and has: for its objectrto pro-- vide a. wheel.- ofthe. character specified] espe- Y ciallyg adapted for use. withnlotorvehicles,. wherein the: cushioning, mechanism; is ar- 7 ranged betweenthe hubiandlthe rim.- In the drawings:

' Eigure. l, i sJa. side view of the improved.

wheel,

Fig. 2., is asection onithelline 2=2 otiE-ig.

1-,,lookinggin the directioniof the arrows.

adjacent to :the, line,

Fig 3c-is-na1 section on the1linei3.3. of.

Fig 6, 7

Fig. t. is; an enlarged, detail section through; the rollers;

Eig 5. is front View of. one. ofthe rollers;-., and;

Fig; 6 is.- aaside View withthe housing; plates removed,- .andwviththee-telly, riln and tire in section.

In ltheepresenti embodiment of the? invention,,the: hub 1 is;-o usualconstruction,

arrd the wheel proper-1comprisesthedelly 2,, .an inner ringjtozbei-later describ.ed,- and spokes;z3 which iconnect the: rim to the:in- 355 I161! ring.; The cushioning. mechanism is arranged between thehuband the-ring;

The Said .cushioningzmeclranism: comprises a-lcoiled springg-ft, vwhichis connected at one 1:

endxto the hnb. as indicated at '5, and at the: 401 Otherendltoatheein-ner ringiasindicated at 6:, the: said spring havingangular-i lugs; at its ends for engaging 'openingswin; :the hub and1the-ring; to securely connect: the said 1 GmlSIOLthe said elements. Theseveral coils 4st at lth'e; 1 spring-ares spaced apart from 1' eachother and held in PIOPGIKIGlat-I LOII by means of seriesotr rollers i;the-rollers of! each series: being f arranged between theconvolutionseandhconnected together; and arealso 50.1. held in properlyv spaced" relation with re+- speot :toeaclr otherr. Eachoiiithersaid rollers:

iszpnovidedwwith a pair; of !parallel* "annular grooves e8; iand rthearchers ofaeach SGI'IBSKZUIG'E connected; by wines 9,; which: are=engaged 1 5.51 with the-grooveslSa andtzare ztwistedxtogethem betweenthe rollers The function ozEthe wires is to keep-therollersof eachcircular roller section or series equally spaced from each. other. 7

Referring to Fig, 4:, itwill be noticed that eachwireis passed aboutoneendlroller O theseries, resting in the groove 8,.and theendsofithewire are then twisted togethen between the said roller andthe,adjacent roller. The wire ends are then separated and passed. around thesecond roller, and this? procedure is repeated until all the rollersiofthe series are connected It will-be noticed. fromnninspection ofFig.v 6that at the lugs 5 and 6, each of the several coils of. thespring has anoblique bend, A and the rollersiof each serieson opposite sides" ofthese bends are the end rollers of the series;

The inner ring, before mentioned coinprises; aipair of housingiplates 10and 11', and the-plate 10 has anannular inwardly extending: rib 12near'its outer edge, which is-iof' a depth toaextend across the ends of'the-spokes into I engagement with 1 the plate 1 11; The innenendsofthespokes dabutthissa rib- :12, and it will be noticed that. between eachadjacent pair of spokes; the said plate 10 has -a spacing member 13inthe form of aminverte'd U+shaped rib whosefree edge abutsethe rib 12:when the plates 10 and 1-1- arevconnected by inechanisni, to belater'described. A; series-Jotsockets is formed im the :peripheralsurface or" the end ring; con stituted by the said plates -forreceiving. the inner ends otthe spokes. Eachsocket is constituted by theribs 12-13 and the -inner faces-of'the housing plates. The *platesa resecured together? at the spokes by bolts 14h which pass through thehousing plates and th e-spo-kes, and are engaged by nuts an d betweenthe spokes by-bolts l6--whichpassthrough the housing plates and areengagedby nuts 17. Within each rib 13, an'cb between thesame and the ribl2,xthe= housing platelO is provided with a cylindrical boss'lS whichhas acentral opening for're ceivingthe bolt 16*, and v which extendsacross; the space between'the housing plates-into engagement :with theinner face of thehous ing plate 11:

lt wil l be noticed from an inspection of Fig.2:2; that these housingplates -10 and x11 do not. extend: into contactwith tlle hub;beingspaced apart from the hub: =at thei r inner edges a' sutiicientdistance td permit the 110 action of the spring l. Both housing plates10 and 11 have a series of pairs of lugs 19 for the middle roller ofeach series of rollers, the lugs of each pair being on opposite sides ofthe roller, as shown'in Figs. 2 and 6.

These lugs serve to prevent lateral movement of the rollers beyond alimited dis-W tance and hold them in proper relation with respect to thecoils of the spring.

Other housing plates 20 and 21 are pro- I vided for completing thehousingof the cushioning mechanism. These housing plates, 1

which are in the form of rings, as are also .the plates 10 and 11, aresecured at their inner edges'to the hub by means of bolts and while theother portion fits the outer face of the adjacent plate 20 or 21, as thecase may be.- r r It will be noticed from an inspection of 'Fig. 2, thatthe outer edges of the housing 7 plates 20 and 21 are spaced apartfromthe V integral connection between the portions of vhub closely,while the outer coil fits as each: retaining ring 23 so that the actionof the spring 4 is not impeded by the said plates; The space between thehub and the inner ring is filled with a suitable lubricant so that allof'the parts function in a bath of oil. All the wheels of the vehiclewill be arranged in such mannerthat the movement of the vehicle willtend to place the spring 4 under tension. will be so arranged that theywill rotatein the direction of the arrow A'of Fig. 6, while the frontwheels will be arranged to rotate in the direction of the arrow B. Atthe rearjwheels, the axle is the rotating force, while the friction onthewheel tends to retard the rim with respect to the hub. At the frontwheels the friction between the wheel and the ground tends to cause therim to drag or lag with respect to the axle,

.a tendency which places the spring 4 under tension.

Should for any reason, 1t be necessary to replace the parts, this iseasily done by removing the plates 11 and 21. .In vorderto remove theseplates it is only necessary to remove the retaining ring 23 at that sideand the bolts 22. The entire spring'may be slipped out laterally withthe rollers in place. One coil of the spring embraces the closely theinner surface of the rib 12.

The tire shown more particularly in Fig.

2, is especially adapted for'use with the im-' The rear wheels 1 provedwheel. "The said tire is arranged upon ametal rim 24 supported on thefelly,

and the tire comprises -a species of casing flexible material cheaperthan rubber, is arranged within thehollow of the casing 25. This ring iscircular injcross section'and it engage the rim at the opposite sideedges thereof, and a filling ring26 of a suitable is spaced from the rimand held well in the hollow of the casing by a ring 27 fitting at;

its inner face, the outer face of the rim,

and at its outer face being concaved to the ring. I V

The casing is provided with cables .28 at its opposite side edges, ofwire or'the like," 7 the said cables being ofring form to hold thecasing firmly in place. 7 Retaining rings 29, are provided at each sideof the folly, the

said rings being secured tothe felly by bolts and nuts '30,and theseringsxextend beyond the rim 2% and engage theshoe topress the samenwardly against the ring 27 and the filling 26.' The retaining rings arearched outwardly at therim and are bent inwardly at their'free edges asshown,;jto provide a clencher gripon thetire. The tire assists 7materially inthecushioningaction of the wheel, possessing to a largedegreethe resiliency ofa pneumatic tire, at a much lesscostan'd withless-liabilityto be damaged.

With the improved whe'el,the liability or stripping the gears will begreatly decreased,

because of the arrangement of the spring;

The springs act as shock absorbers between the transmission and thewheels.[ 2

I claim: i

1.' A wheel of the character specified comprising a hub, a rim and aring within the rim and concentric therewith and rigidly connectedthereto in spaced relation, a substantlally spiral spring connected atone end to the hub and at the other to the ring,-

a series of rollers between each pairof ad acent coils, a plurality offlexible 'conneo- 'tions between the rollers of each series, saidrollers having grooves for the connections,

apair of ring-shaped housing plates at each face" of the wheel,onemember'iof'each pair being connected to the ring'and the other to thehub, and being slidable upon each other and having pairs 7 of inwardlyextending lugs for engaging the ends'of the middle roller of eachseries. V '1 i '7 2. A wheel of the character specifiedcomprising a hub,a rim and :a i

between each pair of adjacent convolutions'," a plurality of flexlbleconnections between the rollers of each -series,zsaid rollers having I Vringwithinthe rim and concentrlc therewith and rigidly connected thereto"in spaced relation, a coilgrooves for the connections, and housingplates for the Wheel having means for holding the rollers inpredetermined position.

8. A Wheel of the class specified comprising a hub, a concentric rim,and a ring Within the rim, a coil spring Whose ends are connected Withthe hub and ring, respectively, a series of rollers interposed betweeneach two adjacent coils of said spring, and means Gomez et this patentmay be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the fiommisaiener ofFatentm,

connecting the several rollers of each series 1 and holding them inspaced relation, and lugs engaging each middle roller of each series ofrollers for holding such series in place, as described.

ROMANUS KRAUSE. Witnesses:

FRANK SNYDER, J OHN Q. TOOLY.

Washington, JD. 0.

